In The Looking Glass
Fic exchange date: 15th June 2013
Written for Allie 3
Author: brightneeBee
Characters: Hermione Granger, Tom Riddle, Voldemort
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K. Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros. Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Rating: M
Warnings: Contains non-graphic violence, sexual situations, light UST
Genre: suspense, general
Spoilers: Voldemort lives (no surprise there, though)
Beta: yes/no (if yes, please mention who). Please have the courtesy to thank your betas if you had any. (Betas aren't required for posting on our site, but every reader appreciates proper spelling/grammar). Honestly, I did not have a beta for this fic. I usually never have a beta, so if you ever see any mistakes, let me know.
Summary: Hermione watched Voldemort fall during the Battle. She watched him fall, but he still managed to escape and no one else saw. No one else saw, and now Hermione has been trapped in an odd idea of a prison. How long will she be trapped? What will happen to her? Why is everything so shiny?
A/N: Dear Allie, I am so sorry it has taken me so long to post this. Please, forgive me for the delay. I won't even spew excuses. I'm hoping all 7 chapters make up for my bad, bad procrastinating ways. I wanted to give you new and interesting and two Dark Lords, and I hope this gives you all that, and more.
PROLOGUE
I have spent my entire life attempting to piece together how it all would end. Would I die an old lady in my bed, toasty warm and happily reliving a lifetime of fond memories? Would I die young, miserable and alone? Would I be missed? Will I have achieved everything I had listed when I was little girl; become a surgeon or a specialist in the world of academia? Cure cancer and mold the minds of the future? Fall in love and live happily ever after? Would I? Could I? Should I?
So many questions, but to them I still have no answers.
My father used to say, "Every person carries a badge. Some symbol of their allegiance." Even as a young child, I understood that the badge was metaphorical. As an adult, I finally, fully, understood the underlying meaning of what my father had been telling me. My father was preparing me for what was to come, without realizing how much it would help me differentiate between the Light, the Dark, and the Neutral people in the wizarding world. And to understand the most evil wizard of all time.
His were the scars of an orphan who had used his cunning and the fear he could instill to climb the social ladder of the pureblood circles. A halfblood who had gained the respect of his peers - even though he believed, always believed, himself superior to them - through painted words and homicidal lust. He'd sworn an oath of violence...And his master? His own insatiable will to power. He wanted to rule over the world - wizarding and muggle, both. His name was - is - Tom Riddle, although most people know him as the Dark Lord. Or Lord Voldemort. He was building an empire, and I was his insurance.
I always thought my life would be routine, cut and dry and unexciting; perfectly mundane. If I had been told how my life would actually be, the friends I would make and the adventurous, dangerous journey I would share with them - the magic of it all - I would have laughed at whoever suggested it to me. It would have seemed ridiculous and illogical to me, even as a young girl; magic and monsters and evil wizards trying to take over the world. And that I would find myself in a storyline so incredibly unbelievable and complex - something straight out of a Doctor Who episode - I would not have believed a single word. That I would fight in a magical war, only to fall for the enemy; utterly preposterous. Even now, as reality is crashing down around me to fit into the ever changing dynamic that is life, I am finding it quite difficult to comprehend as "real." This journey's end just seems far too much a fairy tale to be considered an actual reality, my reality.
My name is Hermione Granger, and this is the story of how I died...